TOP SIX GAMES THAT LET YOU PLAY AS PRINCESS ZELDA

From Hyrule's damsel in distress to a playable warrior princess, she's come a long way in the last 40 years...

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Aside from a certain Italian plumber, The Legend of Zelda must be Nintendo's most loved franchise - yet it's also the butt of a long-running joke about the fact that you don't actually play as the titular character.

Ninty has form here: its first gaming hit, Donkey Kong, shone a spotlight on the antagonist rather than Jumpman (before he became Mario). But even that's a step up from being named after the character your hero is out to rescue.

Zelda has acquired a lot more narrative depth over the series' four-decade run than Princess Peach with her endless kidnappings; but however you dress it up, she's often been stuck with passive victim status.

Fortunately, in recent years Zelda (named after American novelist Zelda Fitzgerald - who says games don't teach you things?) has taken a more active part in her own story. And not just in spinoffs and guest appearances in other games, but as part of the mainline TLoZ series.

Now that her latest star turn Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment has made its way to the Switch 2, just in time to mark the series' 40th anniversary, here's a look back at the times Princess Zelda has - for better and sometimes worse - been given a playable role.

06 Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon

Infamous not for being Zelda's first playable role, but for being possibly one of the worst games ever made, The Wand of Gamelon was created for the Philips CD-i under licence. Controls were terribly unresponsive and the laughable art made it an internet punchbag for years to come.